I’m kicking off with my Gift Guide for Her:

I can’t even tell you how excited I am for what I’m about to say. I have been waiting years for this, ever since I discovered European countries had this option and we didn’t here in the States, I’ve been waiting. I’ve signed petitions, I’ve emailed the company. And I’ve waited. But now that day is finally here and I’m so happy.

H&M now has online shopping in the U.S.  Seriously! You guys know how much I adore H&M. And since I had to drive to the store, I was finally starting to branch out to other stores again, like Gap and Gilly Hicks, so I wouldn’t have to drive there. Since in case you guys haven’t guessed by all the wilderness in my photos, I live in a town small enough that our park is bordered by woods. I went to a town a bit away to take my barbie photos. My H&M was about an hr or so away, and that’s a lot of gas used to get there. But now that gas money can become shopping money and I’m so so so happy!

I put together an outfit that if I could I’d buy right now. It’s so cute! I didn’t include shoes or accessories because I just couldn’t decide. There will probably be a whole post dedicated to them another day.

I love trench coats. I have one already so I don’t need this one, but it doesn’t stop me from wanting it. I kinda really love hats, and since my Fedora got ruined then I might need to get this Felt Hat to replace it for winter. This Cardigan is sort of my perfect dream cardigan. I love big slouchy long cozy sweaters to snuggle in for the winter. This Oversized tee is perfect and I love that I actually know what it says is (Translation Hello Darling, How’s It Going?). And then these Slim Regular Jeans are absolutely perfect for me.

Then while I was looking I of course found some other things that I feel should come home with me.

1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10

Obviously I’m not going to be buying all of this right now, because that would be insanely expensive, but there will probably be an H&M haul coming within the next few weeks, because I am just far to excited about this! So excited in fact that I had a post already written for today and decided to save it for tomorrow so I could blog about this today.

I’d also be really grateful if everyone could go check out the H&M 50 States Of Fashion contest and vote for me, just search ManaSmith86

Baby blanket that I knit for a friend

If you work with your hands a lot yourself, you’ve probably noticed they get a bit dry and haggard looking. This is 10 bazillion times worse if you’re a yarn crafter. For some reason the yarn or thread just seems to suck the moisture right out of your hands. Another pro or con is that the scent of whatever cream your using clings to what your making. I have tried a lot of creams and lotions and these are my favorites that I’ve had.
1. Philosophy Field Of Flowers Lotion, I haven’t had this specific scent before, but I have had their lotion and I loved it. They all smell amazing and they’re just lovely to use.
2. Soap and Glory’s Hand Food is amazing, it smells wonderful, like CoCo Mademoiselle to some people. Plus it’s called hand food for a reason, it makes your hands feel amazing
3. L’Occitane is definitely the most luxe of the 3 choices. My favorite is Pivoine Flora which smells like Peonies. The packaging is just gorgeous, and the lotion is enriched with Shea Butter. These are definitely my absolute favorite.

If you don’t want to go the fancy hand cream route, you can always gift them a new pair of needles if they’re a knitter or crocheter. I recommend something sort of novelty like Knit Lites which I have a pair of and I love them. Otherwise I recommend a pair of Bamboo needles or crochet hook, which are what I use personally.

Luxurious yarn is another lovely gift, I really love Plymouth Baby Alpaca Grande, it’s super soft and cozy and is one of my favorites, but there are also Cashmere and Angora yarns which are absolutely amazing. If you’re going to go this route then I really recommend asking the person behind the counter how much you need for x project, such as a pair of socks, sweater, blanket, or a scarf. It’s very frustrating having great yarn and not being able to make anything with it.

You can also purchase kits to make certain items like stuffed toys or a certain pattern for a hat or baby blanket. I recommend going into a yarn shop to look at those, because the person working there can usually tell you if you actually need more yarn or any other specific tools to make the item in the package.

Finally there is always books. My personal favorites are the Stitch and Bitch series by Debbie Stoller, but the Vogue Stitchionary series is also really good. I actually taught myself to knit from the Stitch and Bitch Series and have managed to loose 2 copies of the first book now. I plan on buying myself another copy very soon. I actually hope to someday own all of  both series. There are also several good books filled with patterns and how to fix mistakes and all kinds of tips and tricks for knitters, which are usually sold in the Yarn Shop.

And if you don’t want to do any of that buy them an amazing scarf or a lovely blanket, because they knit these things to keep people warm and cozy out of love, and you may not be able to make them something yourself, but giving the gift of warmth still says I Love You.

So I’ve finally decided what day I’m going to post my outfit posts and how I’m going to title them. In case you didn’t notice. Also I loved Bullwinkle as a child. But Mr. Peabody and Sherman was my favorite.

Just a warning, it was an absolute miserable day when these photos were shot. It was cold cold cold, and I was super de duper unhappy about it.

I’m wearing a Trench Coat from Express and my absolute favorite scarf from H&M. I actually got the Coat in a sale, for about a 4th of its original price. My favorite bit is that the sleeves are lined with a coral/hot pink color that looks really cute when you turn them up, which I usually do. The scarf is an infinity scarf in dark raspberry pink and a lighter kind of strawberry smoothie type pink. It’s super soft, and very snuggly without being to bulky. I have my absolute favorite Sunglasses from H&M on my head, they have burgundy frames.

My top is from Madewell and my trousers are H&M. I love this top, its a baseball style tee with Hot Pink stripes and Navy blue sleeves. another one that I got an amazing deal on. They had a really great sale last year and I actually bought quite a bit. The pants are my absolute favorite. I love them so much that I have them in both blue and black. I would have bought them in all the colors but I thought that was to many. I really regret not buying them in the blush color.

Sometimes the shopping bug bites you and you have the uncontrollable urge to shop, and nothing except shopping will make it any better. I’ve been bit by the shopping bug, and it’s driving me nothing short of crazy.

You’d think this was good news, being that it’s Christmas Time, and it mostly is, except I’m almost done with my shopping, all out of money and have been bitten by the I have nothing to wear bug. Which means I’ve been spending my time online “shopping”, and since shopping in quotations means your not actually buying anything, it also means you have no budget. Which means I’ve been “shopping” at Anthropologie. Surprisingly I’ve found some things I could definitely afford if I hadn’t spent all my money on Christmas presents.

First there are the scarves, I love scarves and considering I just paid $39 for the yarn to knit one (I finished it but I might unknit it and make it wider and a bit shorter), I don’t think the prices of these are outrageous. I’d probably wouldn’t buy more than one at a time, but I’d be hardpressed to choose what I’d buy first. I think my absolute favorite it is a toss up between the Frequency Flecked Cowl and the Chunky Paisley Loop. These both look so snuggly and I could easily imagine them tossed on with a long sleeve tee, some skinny jeans and boots. I really like the texture in both of them but I think the Chunky Paisley Loop definitely has more character. I’m also a huge fans of the Verdant Violet Scarf the colors are amazing, and while the rich tones definitely make it cold season appropriate it looks lightweight enough to wear all year long. The last two scarfs I kinda fell in love with are the Shimmer-Dusted Loop and the Janpath Patchwork Scarf. The Shimmer-Dusted Loop looks like it would be the perfect touch to a frosty winter outfit, maybe the pop of color on top of a winter white coat. I love patchwork but I normally prefer it on blankets than rather than clothing. (I was not a fan of the patchwork jeans trend, especially not after Britney and Justin suited up in it) but for this scarf I’d make an exception.

Then I found a bunch of tops I love and would wear all of them to their deaths. The Nauticus Pocket Top in either Neutral Motif or Red Motif are gorgeous. I really love the details on the pocket, the flowers on the Neutral Motif top are perfect lead up to spring touch, and the Red Motif top’s grey polka dotted top are adorable and so cute for year round wear. The Duo Colorblock Top in Mint Partitioned Bands Tee in grey both look really cozy and perfect for a lazy day. Though my favorite lazy day top I found is the Perpetual Wear Tee in orange, it looks like it would be perfect to toss on with leggings and to stay curled up inside with a book on a stormy day. Then a top that slightly out of my price range but I adore anyway is the Woven Borders Buttondown, I adore the mix of stripes and floral, it could easily be worn dressed up, untucked with jeans or under a sweater.

 I do believe you have to pay more for a good dress, but I would still probably try to wait and see if these two went on sale. First up is the Threaded Trails Swing Dress in Dark Grey, it’s the perfect easy everyday dress that you can change up by adding a belt or tights and a cardigan and scarf. The other dress that I adore is the Eton Marble Dress in Neutral. I adore the floral print on the body, the shear top and sleeves and the bow sash. It really is the perfect dress for me and would be much loved and worn. While I prefer the Neutral Motif myself the Green Motif is pretty cute with the peacocks, though at first I thought it was some sort of watercolor tribal print at first.

The final clothing item I fell in love with is the Madeline Army Jacket. The Lace and floral fabric on the cuffs and pocket flaps are what absolutely make this jacket for me. Plus the cute bear pin and bit of lace through the button hole, but I have to say the absolute best part are the snail and the fish wearing stilettos on the front pockets which were done by Parisian artist Florence Balducci. It’s definitely way out of my price range for now but it was too cute not to include.

I like them even better if I’ve made them myself. I actually a few projects for this winter planned. I usually like quick satisfying projects, like scarves and hats and I do have some of those planned. A red scarf with pink pockets on the ends that have red hearts knitted into them and a Pink hat with Red hearts knitted into it, maybe in Fair Isle style. The scarf I can turn out in a few hours but if I’m doing the more complicated pattern on the hat, then it will take me a bit longer.

I’ve also thought about delving into harder projects like a sweater. I’ve never made one before and I’ve been really wanting to try a more complicated project this winter. Okay and I’ve sort of been on the hunt for the perfect slightly over sized cozy sweater. So I figure if I can’t find it I should probably just make it.

It’s actually kinda killing me that I can’t head out to my local yarn shop tomorrow to start picking up supplies and get advice on what to make and how to make it. Once I get an idea to do something it sort of drives me crazy until I get started on it, and I love buying new yarn. My last project was an infinity scarf and hat and I went back to my local shop 2 or 3 times. But I’m actually working on a baby blanket for a very close friend right now and it kinda reminds me of snow. I feel like I should finish that first and I have 3 more skeins to knit up before I’m done.

Really if you’re a knitter and you’re getting your yarn at a box store you’re missing out. This is going to sound awful but really the only things I buy from small businesses regularly are my yarn. This is for one reason, buying there insures I have help when I’m stuck. The guy that owns my local yarn shop sat with me for over an hour teaching me to turn a heel when I learned to knit socks. Then a few days later he spent another hour teaching me to graft the toe of the sock. I wasn’t in a class, although he does offer them, he just took his time to teach me how. You can pretty much walk into any yarn shop and they’ll help you if you ask for it. I do recommend being polite though, they don’t have to help you and if you’re rude, they flat out won’t.

I’m also planning on repurchasing Stitch ‘N Bitch: The Knitter’s Handbook and Stitch ‘n Bitch Superstar Knitting: Go Beyond the Basics which I’ve never owned but I’m really excited about because it has 41 new patterns and I might also buy Stitch ‘n Bitch Nation. I love the Stitch N’ Bitch book series, I learned to knit from the first book, and I adore it. I can’t wait to get them.

So the outfit started with H&M skinny trousers, and an American Eagle light wash Denim western style shirt, origionally I wanted to wear it untucked, but I decided tucked in would be better today.

Then I added a Rose Gold H&M Belt, a floral and stripe scarf and a pearl bracelet. Unfortunately I’ve forgotten where I got both from. I also don’t remember where I got my sunglasses from.

Finally came my western inspired riding boots from Pink and Pepper, and I was feeling very cowgirlish.

The Final Result: 

Obviously this outfit feels a little costume-y to me, and I think it would be much cuter with a white button down and maybe a different scarf, a longer one. But all in all I like it. It’s definitely different than what I usually wear but sometimes it’s fun to be a little costume-y with your outfit. Now where are those horses? It’s much more rancher/cowgirl than English riding style, but the English riding style will be coming soon I promise. Just as soon as I pick up a good plain button down. I think maybe a charcoal grey would be great.

It’s been getting cooler for about a week here now, and I’ve been seeing the leaves beginning to change. There’s been woodsmoke in the air, and stores are setting out their Halloween/Thanksgiving Items.  All of these are sure signs that Fall is here.  Everything about Fall is better to me.  The chill in the air, being able to comfortable drink hot cocoa, coffee, tea and cider again. The darker colors that come in style are warmer and richer to me.  I love Corn Mazes, Hayrides and visits to the local pumpkin patch. Fall is when all the best candle scents come out, and the whole world begins to seem cozier.  Everyone is bundling up and the holiday parties kick off with Halloween.

Then there’s the fashion, no matter what your style is it always gets more interesting as the weather begins to chill, mostly out of the sheer desire to be warm. Sweaters, Jackets, Leggings, Boots, Tights, with the colder weather comes endless possibilities. Suddenly it’s easier to be super edgy in your moto boots at the mall or classy in your riding boots in school or super cozy in your UGGS hanging out in your back yard and playing in the leaves. Whether you’re rocking ankle booties or opt for the extra warmth of knee high boots it’s all about what you feel comfortable in.

Personally I love Sweaters and Knee High boots, and I believe that leggings should only be worn to bed, or under jeans when it’s freezing cold, but to each their own.  What makes you happiest in the fall? Being Snuggled into an adorable pea coat with some adorable riding boots, or do you prefer hoodies and UGGS? No matter what your fashion in the morning it will be fall, and everything will be wonderful in my world.